Page 63 of The Omega Project

“It’s a good room,” I tell them as I blow on the hot chocolate. It’s definitely not from a packet, with a hint of spice and plump marshmallows melting on my tongue. The hit of sugar goes a long way to perking me up, and I wonder how many times Sally brought Creed a cup after a hard match. “You can smell the love in the air, and I don’t think it’s just from your mum’s vanilla slice.”

“Nah, it was a happy house to grow up in. Mum’s stricter than a general, but she’s got a big heart.”

“And she doesn’t know about that?” I nod my head towards his chest. “She hasn’t met Soren?”

“No. I’m hoping that if he keeps doing so well, I can set something up.”

It makes sense, but it just increases my resolve to get Soren safely through his heat. After what he said about his own childhood, he deserves a pack mum like Sally.

Which makes me turn my attention to Finn. “You said you needed to talk to me when I was clear-headed.” I tilt the mug of hot chocolate at him. “Other than a sugar rush, I’m ready to hear what you have to say.”

Creed cuts him a hard look, then sits beside me on his bed, while Finn perches on the edge of his desk. It puts him straight in my line of sight, and as I drink in his handsome face, I watch a ripple of unease pass through his eyes. This might be a conversation he said we needed, but that doesn’t mean he wants to have it.

“You asked if I met Soren through Vast Horizons, and the answer is both yes and no.” His jaw flickers and he puts down his drink to grip the edge of the desk. “They wanted my skills, but they knew I wouldn’t condone their research, so they went behind my back.”

My stomach lurches as a horrible thought settles in my mind. Right back when I was first reading Soren’s file, Creed said that the army wanted designations they could manipulate at will - betas in the barracks, but ferals on the frontline. It was going to be a combination of hormonal and behavioural stimulation, but the science kept letting them down, because the subjects kept overdosing on the stimulant they were injected with.

“They used your alpha juice,” I whisper, a chill running down my arms despite the hot drink in my hands.

“No,” Finn says grimly, a murderous glint in his eyes. “If that was what they were after, they'd have to drain it from my corpse.”

“We don’t give away what's ours,” Creed says quietly, “especially if they plan to screw someone over with it.”

“Then what?” I set the mug on the floor, so I don’t drop it in my agitation. I keep replaying that moment when Finn wrapped his hand around the base of Rick’s skull andtoldhim to break. “The command technique? You did that - like breaking Rick - toSoren?”

I don’t realise I’m on my feet until I’m in Finn’s face, my anger burning through my blood like a wildfire. “How could you? You’re supposed to protect people like him.”

He stares at me with his wolf eyes, and I suddenly wonder if I’ve read him all wrong. Maybe that’s not the protector I can see there, but the predator, so powerful that he’s forgotten the line between what he can do and what he should do.

I pull away, too sickened to look at him another moment, only to find Creed’s strong arms around me. I try to push him aside, but a purr rumbles out of his chest, and he tilts my face up with a gentle hand. “Calm, sweetheart. Hear him out. You know him better than that.”

I don’t think he’scommandingme to listen, but I stop struggling, and the ragged whistle in my chest dies away. My heart is still beating too fast, but one glance at Finn’s stricken face and I realise it’s true. Finn would never hurt Soren. If someone told him to break a twenty-year-old omega, he’d turn that terrifying power of his back in their faces. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ll listen.”

A relieved breath huffs from Creed’s chest, and I can suddenly smell their anxiety in the air, like hot metal and sulphur. I let Creed draw me down onto his lap, but my focus is all on Finn. “Tell me what they did.”

“You’re right, I hurt Soren, but not intentionally.” The stark misery in his eyes is hard to witness, but I hold still, determined to hear him out. “What you saw me do to Rick, I did to our political enemies. Traitors. Spies. Dictators. I was contracted to break them all, uncovering their secrets while I stole their designations. It eventually got to be too much, so I ended my contract.” He folds his arms, but not before I see the tremble in his hands. “What I didn't know is that they recorded me. They had audio files of my sessions, and they used some of their tech guys to manipulate my commands. When they could mimic my results, they built them into the Vast Horizons project.”

“Oh, my God.” I don’t know what else to say. They didn’t just steal part of Finn’s identity, they then used it against vulnerable people, all without his knowledge or consent.

“When I found out, I broke into their database and tracked down everyone they used it on. Lives… destroyed. All by my voice. And then I found Soren, who was living on the streets, almost crippled by what we’d done to him…”

I launch myself off Creed and into his arms, so angry my tears burn away before they can fall. “Notyou. None of that was your fault! They betrayed you and damaged him, which isn’t just bad science but criminal abuse.”

Finn is shaking his head, too bitter at himself to accept my assurances. “I knew better than to trust them. I should’ve watched them more closely after I left and anticipated something like this.”

“It’s not your fault,” I repeat, holding him tighter. It’s like hugging a brick wall, and I push myself closer until I can feel his heart hammering against mine. “It was them, not you. I know it, and Soren knows it. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But I do.” He doesn’t soften, and even though he lets me cling to him, his gaze is fixed on the far wall. “Ifoundyou, long before you knew about us or the project.”

“Lang found me. I mean, that’s how I met you.”

“Yes, but as soon as I smelled you on him, I knew. I hacked your medical records, mined your biometrics and social media… I even pulled your academy files and high school transcripts. I know more about you, Emily, than any person on this planet, and I still used you for my own means.”

“To help Soren.”

“Yes, but…”

“Do you think I’m really going to hold that against you?” I arch my neck so he’s staring down at the bonding mark on my throat. “Soren’s my mate. I’d do anything to help him. And yes,you should have told me about nulls and soulmates and all your other theories, but I doubt I would have believed it.”

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